The present invention relates to cabinet construction for ice makers or other refrigeration appliances and more particularly to refrigeration appliances of the type generally designed for under counter installation. Such appliances typically are either miniature refrigerators, with or without a freezer compartment, or an ice maker having an ice storage compartment enclosing an ice forming and dispensing apparatus and an underlying ice storage bin.
The present invention is directed to providing a modular design for such an appliance that facilitates brand differentiation and re-use of components for creating ice makers, refrigerators and wine coolers.
The present invention also is directed to the problem of permitting easy manual access to the ice storage bin while maximizing the effective capacity of the ice storage bin and reducing the likelihood of spillage of ice.
The present invention provides a modular design for an ice maker or other refrigeration appliance wherein the frame is constructed from a base member or deck, preferably a U-shaped stamping, a tub, preferably formed of plastic, and a pair of side panels slip fit over the base and tub subassembly. A top panel is removably mounted to the top of the side panels to form the top of the frame and optionally at least partially form the top of the refrigeration compartment defined by the tub. A door is hingedly mounted to the frame such as to rotate about a horizontal or a vertical axis to selectively close said refrigeration compartment or provide access thereto.
In the preferred embodiment, the present invention further provides an ice chute or flipper hingedly mounted to the front of the tub to provide access to the ice storage bin defined by the tub while increasing the effective size of the ice storage bin. The ice chute is adapted to guide back into the ice storage bin any ice that is inadvertently dropped thereon when ice is being removed.
The chute is provided with a lower surface which cooperates with the door such as to be lowered into an open position extending outwardly of the refrigeration compartment when the door is opened and to be raised into an upper position entirely within the refrigeration compartment when the door is closed.
The present invention therefore provides a design for such an ice maker that readily facilitates brand differentiation among differently branded models of the same ice maker by providing a design sufficiently robust to permit alternative appearing access doors, and alternative control configurations, including having doors on one model that may be opened about a vertical axis for one model and doors on another that may be opened about a horizontal axis for an alternate model.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a modular design for a refrigeration appliance compartment that is easily accessible for assembly, cleaning and repair.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a modular design for an ice maker refrigeration compartment that is easily adaptable for constructing a compact under counter refrigerator or wine cooler.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the attached drawings.